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for dinner to go over the schedule for the week. Besides, he could use the carbs. All week long, Pax adhered to a strict protein and fiber based diet. His Monday night dinners with Jason were his one indulgence. Rojo was home to one of the best Italian restaurants in the state, and it was always their pick for dinner. They had a standing reservation at the best table, and when he got there, Jason was already waiting.
    “You look like shit,” his friend said as he stood, greeting Pax with a manly hug, before sitting back down and opening his menu across the table in front of him.
    “I didn’t sleep. I had to babysit a drunk girl, and then do your dirty work and fire her on the morning after what was probably one of the worst days off her life. Coincidentally, yesterday was also her birthday.” He didn’t add “asshole” at the end but he spoke in a way that it was clearly implied.
    Jase, shrugged, unaffected by the news. Stubborn didn’t even begin to cover it.  “But it’s done? She’s on her way back to wherever the hell she came from to lick her wounds?”
    “Actually, that’s one of the things I need to talk to you about. I hired her. She’s agreed to be the entertainment for tomorrow.”
    Jason shook his head, looking greatly unamused at the recent turn of events. “You’re an idiot. You’re making a huge mistake.”
    “Even you admitted that last night was completely out of character, Jase, it’s fine. She was under a lot of stress.”
    “You’re an idiot,” his friend repeated. “That kind of behavior is a slippery slope. It could be the beginning of the end.”
    “You’re a pessimist,” Pax countered. “Everyone needs a second chance now and again.” He pegged his friend with a hard glare, fraught with meaning. Jason’s entire life was built on second chances.
    Jason caught the meaning, but shrugged it off. “Have it your way. Don’t come crying to me when you figure out I’m right.”
    “I won’t, because you’re not going to be. I take it this means you want off the schedule for tomorrow?” Not that it mattered. The way Jason was behaving, Pax wouldn’t have let him touch Diamond from ten feet away with a feather.
    “It’s all you, buddy. I’m out of this one,” Jason agreed, smiling for the first time since Pax had sat down.
    “Fine. I’ll switch with you this time. You can take next week, and you better be able to play nice by then.”
    Jason smirked. “She’ll be gone by then. Divas like that don’t take very well to correction. She’ll be long gone after the first swat, and you’ll be left with no entertainment.”
    “I’ve already spanked her. She’ll stay. Don’t worry about it. And stop being such an ass. There’s a lot of shit you don’t know.”
    “Enlighten me then.”
    Pax leaned across the table, opening his mouth to tell the story, but they were interrupted by the waitress showing up to take their order. Pax ordered a carafe of red wine, an antipasto appetizer and the Pasta Primavera with shrimp. His mouth was already watering in anticipation. Jason ordered scotch on the rocks, and the lasagna Bolognese. His friend was not a health nut.
    When the waitress left, promising to return shortly with their drinks, Pax leaned over once more, and quickly whispered the details that he had learned concerning Diamond identity and the circumstances of her mother’s death. “Obviously, this is confidential,” he added, but he wasn’t worried. Jason was an ass sometimes, but Pax trusted him with his life.
    “Wow.” Jason sat back in his chair, folded his arms behind his head, and let out a low whistle. “That’s heavy. You win. That definitely counts as extenuating circumstances. “
    “Mmhmm”
    “Wow. So she was hiding at Aubergine all that time? In plain sight—using her own name as a cover?” Jason let out a loud guffaw of laughter. “Man that’s genius. She really outsmarted those vultures, didn’t she? Are you going to let her keep her own